biological theories affecting policy - exam questions Flashcards
assess the use of BIOLOGICAL THEORIES in informing policy development (9 MARKS)
Biological theories suggest crime stems from being physically and genetically different, and policies attempt to address the root cause of offending behaviour. One biological treatment is biochemical processes which involves the use of drug treatments, diets, and surgeries. The use of drugs is shown to work as it is proven that the use of valium and other sedatives and tranquillisers can help to calm violent inmates down which can reduce criminal behaviour amongst inmates. However, the use of drugs is unethical as you are potentially changing and disrupting the body’s natural biochemistry make up. The use of methadone also causes addicts to become addicted to methadone instead of heroin, which is unethical as it doesn’t help stop addiction, it only makes them addicted to something less dangerous. GESCH showed that by supplementing prisoner’s diets with vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids, it can reduce anti-social behaviour which can help reduce levels of crime as well as providing prisoners with a healthy diet. Surgeries like lobotomy are an unethical way to treat crime as they can have serious side effects which include brain infection, epilepsy, dementia, and other life changing side effects that can cause disability. However, surgeries like surgical castration which are used on sex offenders, are an effective way of treating crime as it prevents that person from committing a sexual offence again which ultimately, protects the public.
Another biological treatment is eugenics, which is the selection of desired heritable characteristics in order to improve future generations and get rid of the criminal gene. Eugenics is NOT an ethical way to treat crime as it is highly unethical as it diminishes people of their human rights by labelling them as “unfit” or “imperfect” as well as excluding them from society. It is highly unlikely that eugenics will become a widespread policy due to the moral and ethical issues that are linked with it.
The last biological treatment is the death penalty. The death penalty is executing someone as punishment for a specific crime on the basis it will prevent the person from participating in crime and may provide a deterrence for others. The death penalty was temporarily abolished in 1965. They monitored the murder rates in the following years and found that murder rates didn’t increase. This led to the decision to permanently abolish the death penalty in 1969 as it was proven it didn’t work as a deterrent for murder as well as it being a violation of people’s human rights and disagrees with people’s “right to life”. However, the death penalty is still legal in countries like the USA, however, it is only in some states. It is also shown that murder rates are higher in countries with the death penalty which further proves the point that the death penalty is an ineffective deterrent. Higher murder rates in countries with the death penalty can be due to the fact that people usually kill in a moment of impulsive actions where they aren’t thinking about the consequences, so having the death penalty does not only not work, but also is a violation of people’s human rights.
